E3: GT5 Prologue this year

Gran Turismo 5 Prologue will be coming to the PlayStation Network later this year, Sony announced at its E3 conference yesterday evening.

It's another free taster of what we can expect from the full Polyphony Digital game due some point in the future. The demo will let players race online for the first time ever in the series, using a bunch of shiny cars.

We imagine you'll probably be gawking at the hugely impressive graphics we saw in the on-stage trailer, too. "Look at the reflections on that," said Ellie Gibson, who was commentating live from the event.

The decision to release another Gran Turismo 5 teaser stemmed from the success of HD Concept earlier in the year, which let you race a handful of cars around a single track - supposedly powered by a version of the GT5 engine.

It was so popular more than one million of you clamoured to download it, according to Sony Worldwide Studios boss Phil Harrison. And rightly so, reckoned Eurogamer hack Tom Bramwell, who went hands-on with it back in March.

So it all seems to be shaping up well for the iconic and immensely popular racing series. But will we see the full game before 2009, Sony?

Bertie is a senior staff writer, which doesn't mean he's old, although he is, a bit. He's part of the furniture here and reports on all kinds of things, the stranger the better. He's a bit odd but then who isn't? @Clert on Twitter.